Yup, I'm back. Took me a bit longer then expected, but my schedule have been a bit filled lately, so I had less time to write. Also, this chapter was a bit problematic, coz I attempted to not have it dragged and yet have the right impact it was supposed to. I re-wrote it at least twice and I can only hope it turned out satisfactory :(
Thanks to all of you who reviewed the previous chapter. Hope you'll find this one worth waiting for and, without further delay, here's the newest piece of NNG:
Chapter #155: A Short Intermission
Title Page: Tarakudo is training yoga within a class full of other students
"I understand you wanting to prove your strength to someone you care about" Aoru whispered to fallen Taki, panting herself, barely staying on her feet. "I really do, since I am the same; you put up a formidable fight, but in the end..." she began, gathering all the strength she had left to rise the volume: "I win" she finished.
A tiny smile crept onto her face as she slowly rose her head towards the platform; her body ached all over as fatigue kicked in with full force. She didn't particularly cared since the proctor marched towards them to make the announcement. Settling her eyes on Takai, her smirk widen... only for her eyes to follow as a whistling sound reached her ears. Aoru only managed to look over her shoulder before the boomerang the leaf-nin tossed a moment earlier came flying at her, smacking her hard in the face.
The impact send her to the ground, face-first, with a 'thud'. The redhead tried to pull herself up, but her body refused her every command, effectively immobilizing the girl: "Shi... I don't have any strength left!" she cursed as Lee observed her for a moment as if he was waiting for her to get up.
Noticing that won't be happening, he gave a quick glance towards Taki and seeing no motion from the masked kunoichi either, he shifted his attention to the honorary lounge, making the announcement: "Neither contestant is able to carry on and thus this match... is a tie!" he proclaimed, receiving silence from the stands.
A moment later the crowds burst into applause at the effort the two girls put into the fight, while Takai and Torune, alongside Akira and Horohoro, jumped down to the arena before the medics reached the center.
"That was... kinda anti-climax" Tsume stated, sweat dropping as she had a dumb-fooled look on her face. "It's a pretty lame way to have victory slip through your fingers..."
"Well, boomerangs are specifically designed for the use we just saw" Ibuki disagreed, keeping her poker-face. "Their shape allows them to turn and return to their master after the throw; the premise is that the first attack is usually a faint and the weapon is supposed to hit the target when coming back; true, it's a tad disappointing that redhead from Suna forgot of this, but to argue with the other side – this outcome was, likely, Taki's intention from the moment she tossed it."
"Being able to use something as basic as that to win such a high-level match shows that every little helps" Taka smirked behind his mask as his eyes set on the two, downed kunoichi. "Not only did those two managed to use powerful techniques, but even prepared the simplest of traps, anticipating their opponent might be taken by surprise by it; usually, if two shinobi are skilled, neither suspects the other to use straight-forward tactics and, ironically, because of this, such strategies work in those predicaments..."
"I can't believe I got beat in such a way" Aoru forced a weak laugh as her teammates gathered around her. "And to think I almost got to the second round. Sorry, Takai-kun... looks like we won't meet in the tournament after all."
The scythe user gazed at her face for a moment and, despite its exterior joy, he could tell the girl was not happy with this predicament. Forcing a smile of his own, the boy replied with a voice the redhead have not heard him use in a very long time: "Maybe this is for the best... after all, from everyone gathered, I have no doubt that, for me, you'd be the most troublesome opponent to deal with" he proclaimed, making Torune widen her eyes at the statement, positive she heard him wrong.
Hearing this, Aoru was no less shocked then the other kunoichi, but managed to shake it off quickly as she smiled as well: "Is that so?" she asked with a smirk as the medics reached her. "Then you better watch your step from now on, Takai-kun... coz I'll be taking you down in the near future" she added before being put on a stretcher.
"Man, Hitomi's gonna kill me for putting her training to waste" Taki joked, though there was a hint of worry in her voice as a single drop of sweat ran down her face. Seeing that neither of her teammates reacted to the comment, she grew serious, letting out a sigh: "I really blew it, haven't I?"
"Not quite" Horohoro disagreed, glancing at the sand-nin that was being taken by the medics. "Being able to score a tie against a superior opponent is quite an achievement" he announced, making the kunoichi smile:
"You really mean it?" she asked sweetly, only to drop her expression as realization struck: "Hey, who are you calling inferior?" she teasingly snapped. Slowly, she shifted her gaze towards the blind gennin, who was visibly confused: "I guess you two and Funbo will need to carry on by yourselves. It's a shame, really, coz I was counting on kicking both your asses" she proclaimed, sticking out her tongue.
"We'll take revenge for you" Akira replied simply, straightening up to make room for medics who just reached them. "You just rest easy, Taki... chan..."
Those words made the girl smile slightly, though Horohoro was not as cheerful as the other two: "And how do you plan on doing that, since the redhead is out of the tournament as well? Besides, this is easy for you to say, getting a free pass to the quarter-finals... some of us will actually have to put an effort to advance" he pointed out, making the kunoichi giggle at their behavior.
"You've got quite a team there, Takai" Kai greeted his opponent as the sand-nin returned to the platform. The scythe user froze at those words and glanced at the blond, taken by surprise. Allowing a weak nod, he stepped over the rail to stand next to his two, remaining comrades: "That I do" he answered finally in a monotone: "But your squad fares no worse" he reciprocated, gazing at Kumiko, Kusari and Takaru, who were located a little further from them.
"Yeah" the Leaf gennin replied with a smile. "Makes you wanna try your best, doesn't it?" he questioned, widening his grin. Honemaru also smirked at the simpleton, but had the decently to turn away, avoiding his teammate's sight: "Well, I guess I now know what transpired earlier... how ironic to have a complete stranger affect him more then people he knew for years; the two of us certainly grew over this, little challenge" he thought to himself and then shifted his attention to Tarakudo, who ignored the whole conversation for most part: "I wonder if this trip had an impact on him as well?"
"This is turning out a bit problematic" Shinkou noted without any, real worry showing on his face. "This is a second tie in this round, meaning we'll be having two, automatic wins in the next; perhaps it's best to re-arrange the fights for the second portion?" he purposed casually.
"That may be a good idea" Genmei agreed, nodding. "As is, that blind boy and whoever wins the next match will be rid of a chance to promote themselves as much as other contestants."
"I believe you're getting too ahead of yourselves, Genmei-dono, Shinkou-dono" Kakashi countered lazily, looking over his book, which made Satsuki wonder when did he even picked it out. She cursed in her mind – to be that caught up in a fight to lose awareness of her surroundings was unacceptable. Meanwhile, the cyclopean ninja continued: "Even with this outcome, there are still three matches in this round left and there's no telling what their results are gonna be, skipping the fact there's also that rat girl from Kusa who, for the time being, has been escorted to the medical wing due to injuries; it may turn out she's unable to take part in her, scheduled match either. I say it's best to wait until the first portion of the tournament unfolds before we meddle in the set-up."
Silently, Gaara nodded in agreement, making the rest of the leaders comply, while down in the arena the next, two combatants stood ready to begin their match. Simultaneously, their jounin also awaited the start of that bout, visibly on edge. Naruto, who was still sitting by their side, picked up on that and decided to lighten the mood somewhat: "Though luck about that redhead of yours, Temari, but I suspect you'd have a real bother to pick a side, since your student faces a relative of yours..."
"Actually, it a bit less complicated for me" the blond kunoichi assured him sternly. "Though, also, more complex" she added, looking to the side, making the Kyuubi vessel completely confused. The whisker-marked man glanced over to Kankuro, but the latter gave no response, his attention entirely centered on the battlefield.
"Fourteenth match" Lee announced as the two, sand-nins stood before each other with wide smirks. "Torune against Hari, both from Suna! Ready and... BEGIN!" he yelled, getting out of the way, making Kankuro's student instantly go for her weapons porch: "Lets do this, Torune-nee!" she spoke excitedly, pulling out her senbon.
"Torune-nee?" Hinata repeated in her mind, shock written all over her face. Before she could say anything to her companions though, she noticed Shikamaru starring at the match below with involvement she rarely saw him show over all the years she's known him. Stopping in her traces, she pulled back the question that was making its way through her throat and returned to watching the fight.
Hari unleashed her needles at the other, Suna girl, but the latter merely performed a quick set of seals, creating a gust of wind which blew the projectiles away with ease: "This sort of tactics won't have any effect on me" she proclaimed calmly. "You should know this..."
"Doesn't hurt to try" the other blonde replied in a teasing manner, still smiling widely as a new set of senbon was prepared in her grip. Tossing them at her adversary, she forced Torune to form another cyclone, but as the needles got carried by the wind, Temari's student eyes widen at the glance of something glittering in the sun: "Strings!" she noticed, jumping back to avoid capture.
Alas, it was too late as she felt a net forming on her back in mid-flight, the projectiles changing directions accordingly; before she knew it, the strings circled around her, wrapping her arms and legs in a matter of moments, completely immobilizing her on the spot. Unable to keep her balance, the blonde dropped to her back, accompanied by Hari's voice: "My, my... that was waaaaaaay too easy, Torune-nee... don't tell me this is really all it takes..."
To this, the other sand-nin flipped her wrist, forming a few, quick, hand seals, making Saiken narrow his eyes at the sight: "Single-handed again?" he wondered while powerful winds picked up from below Torune, lifting the kunoichi off the ground. In a flash the sharp air cut the strings, placing its master on her feet just as four, small tornadoes rose around Hari, trapping her in a circle motion.
"Now this is more like you" the senbon mistress stated, looking at the rampaging winds. Without hasted she glanced back at the other blonde, still smiling: "I can't really get through this barrier... not with my needles at least. It's a bit troublesome, but I basically asked for it, so I can't complain about you forcing me to use my, secret weapon..."
"Frankly, I'm offended you did not pull it out right off the bat" Torune proclaimed calmly, bringing her hands together for another seal. Meanwhile, Hari bit her thumb to draw blood as her eyes narrowed: "Allow me to remedy that... lets go all out!"
-a sandstorm's coming!-
Yes, I know – frankly Taki vs. Aoru was ALWAYS supposed to be a tie and I figured this would be an unexpected way to do it. I guess I could've played a bit further on the humorous aspect of Aoru getting sucker-punched like that, but I was worried that would badly correspond with the resulting aftermath... I fear there was no, good way out of this :(
Konoha #7 (Naruto): Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai
Konoha #3 (Shikamaru): Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru
Konoha #4 (Hinata): Igaku Mikka, Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Hatake Senkou, Kobushi Galu
Konoha (Shino): Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro
Suna #1 (Temari): Torune, Honemaru, Tarakudo, Takai
Suna #2 (Kankuro): Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Karame
Kusa (none): Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi (currently in medical wing for treatment), Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Tsuki (Hinami Hoshiru): Junsei Teela, Kihako Tasuki, Chishio Kumo, Chishio Nobu
Kane (unknown): Futatsu
Kumori (Tategamaru): Saiken Tenma
Fight 14: Torune (27) vs. Hari (28)
Fight 15: Amagasa Toku (29) vs. Kyohaku Tokame (30)
Fight 16: Kobushi Galu (31) vs. Karame (32)
Fight 17: Takai vs. Wanabi Hizoku
Fight 18: Tanken Funbo vs. Gekido Takaru
Fight 19: Benda Kokoro vs. Tarakudo
Fight 20: Manako Akira (automatic win)
Fight 21: Sabaku no Sabure vs. Debano Kitsune
Fight 22: Kanraku Nezumi vs. Horohoro
Now, before finishing, I'd just like to warn you that it is likely that I won't manage to update before the holidays and, to that end, I'd like to wish you all HAPPY EASTER! Hope you'll find tasty eggs ;P
Take care and until next time!